It’s a Duck Gamble

Paul Kariya, the face of the Mighty Ducks for nearly a decade, may have played his last game for the team.

Duck management, in the loudest signal yet of an NHL team’s cost slashing, did not give Kariya a $10-million qualifying offer and he became an unrestricted free agent as of 9 p.m. Monday. This amounts to a calculated gamble by General Manager Bryan Murray, who said he hoped to re-sign Kariya.

Kariya, a seven-time All-Star who made $10-million last season, had a team-high 81 points, as the Ducks reached the Stanley Cup final before losing to New Jersey in seven games. He is not alone in the Ducks’ financial wranglings, as center Adam Oates and right wing Steve Thomas were allowed to become unrestricted free agents.

“I’m the worst guy in the world to gamble,” Murray said. “I don’t want to lose Paul Kariya, but financially some things have to make sense in our business.... I know the amount of money it costs to operate a hockey team. I want to make sense out of this as well. To do that, we have to get player contracts in order.”

Only three players made more than Kariya last season -- Jaromir Jagr, Keith Tkachuk and Nicklas Lidstrom. The Ducks’ move was one of the most prominent examples of ownership trying to trim payroll with labor trouble on the horizon.

The collective bargaining agreement expires in September 2004, and all indications point to a lengthy lockout by owners, who claim they are losing millions.

That’s the spin Murray used for his Kariya decision.

“We ran a pretty good operation, with a long playoff run, and still we had a hard time justifying our payroll,” said Murray, whose payroll was about $45-million last season.

Murray seems intent on playing financial poker with Kariya and other Duck players.

Murray revamped the Ducks on the fly last summer, creating a playoff team virtually from scratch. Now he risks dismantling those efforts. He did not pick up Oates’ $3.5-million option and did not make a move to re-sign Thomas.

Oates and Thomas were key players in the Ducks’ run to the Stanley Cup finals. Both are now unrestricted free agents. Murray said he offered Oates a contract for less money and was turned down. He did not give qualifying offers to role players Marc Chouinard and Kevin Sawyer.

But those moves seem minor when compared to dangling Kariya to any taker.

“I don’t think anything surprises me anymore, but maybe I’m a little surprised by this because we got to the final,” Oates said. “But that’s up to ownership. That’s way above me.”

The move came after Kariya enjoyed his brightest moment after spending years in the wilderness playing in Anaheim. The Ducks made a stunning run through the Stanley Cup playoffs, reaching the finals and extending New Jersey to seven games.

For years, Kariya has deflected questions about whether he would force the Ducks to trade him to get a chance at winning the Stanley Cup. He has repeatedly said that he wanted to win the Cup with the Ducks. Now it seems to be the Ducks who are forcing his hand, banking that he will want to remain in Southern California now that the team is on better footing.

Kariya’s goal production declined in recent seasons. He scored 25 goals last season, his career-low for a full season. But he also had 56 assists, his highest total since 1998-99.

Murray said he had conversations with Don Baizley about signing Kariya to a contract for less money, but those talks became pointless. Kariya could not be reached for comment.

“We never talked numbers and we never talked terms,” Murray said. The fallout probably will be harsh with fans. The Ducks mended fences with fans last season, as Murray turned around a doormat franchise in one season. That newly developed goodwill will be tested since season ticket prices were raised an average of 11%.

Despite the team’s success during the regular season, the Ducks had only seven sellouts and five of those were propped up by fans of the visiting team -- two against the Detroit Red Wings, two against the Kings and one against the New York Rangers.

“It will probably hurt us in the short term,” Murray said. “I do think fans understand that things had to change if we’re going to continue this league and operate it in a sound business manner. It will be hard on salesmen here tomorrow. In the future, we hope to correct that.”

That sits squarely on Murray’s shoulders now. Sales will get more difficult should Kariya sign with another team. That scenario would probably rule out the return of Teemu Selanne, Kariya’s friend and a fan favorite when he was with the Ducks. Selanne was traded late in the 2000-01 season.

Both Kariya and Selanne are represented by Baizley.

“[Paul] didn’t give us the right of first refusal,” Murray said. “Obviously he is disappointed.... We’re still going to try to negotiate a contract with him.”

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Class of ’03

Some prominent NHL free agents:

*--* Jeff Hackett, G, Boston Felix Potvin, G, Kings Murray Baron, D, Vancouver Greg de Vries, D, Colorado Derian Hatcher, D, Dallas Calle Johansson, D, Washington Ken Klee, D, Washington Brian Leetch, D, Edmonton Bryan Marchment, D, Colorado Glen Wesley, D, Toronto Sergei Berezin, F, Washington Sergei Fedorov, F, Detroit Trent Klatt, F, Vancouver Vyacheslav Kozlov, F, Atlanta Brad May, F, Vancouver Todd Marchant, F, Edmonton Darren McCarty, F, Detroit Joe Nieuwendyk, F, New Jersey Adam Oates, F, Mighty Ducks Vaclav Prospal, F, Tampa Bay Cliff Ronning, F, Minnesota Teemu Selanne, F, San Jose Steve Thomas, F, Mighty Ducks

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